Jake's P.O.V
As I was cleaning up the garage after practice, I heard my phone go off. Peeking over, I couldn't help but smile seeing Jaime's name across the screen. I was so excited to go over tonight. It was amazing how nice it was, not having to do anything with the person you love, just getting to lay in their arms until you fell asleep. There was no where else I'd rather be.
And then I read her text, and my stomach dropped.
Jaime: Hey, Josh asked me to help him film some more and we're going swimming down by the river. Let me know what you're up to. <3
Of course he'd look for any excuse to see her without me. That's probably where he ran off to in such a hurry.
Jake: Okay, I'll come meet up with you guys later. I love you <3
This would at least give me enough time to head out and pick us up something to eat. As much as I loved to spoil her by taking her out, I knew that she would much prefer a night in, just the two of us.
She was just.. simple.
And I loved that about her.
Knowing she was just happy.. with me.
She didn't need anything else.
So.. neither did I.
After I had everything put away, I hopped in my car, speeding off down the road to the Chinese restaurant in town. She had mentioned the other day how much she was craving it so I figured it would be a nice surprise.
While I waited for it to be ready, I slowly wandered down the sidewalk, browsing in every window I passed until I came to the jewelry store on the corner. I hesitated for a moment before going in, jumping at the sound of the loud bell overhead when I opened the door. The woman behind the counter turned to face me, flashing me a wide grin.
"Hi! Can I help you with anything?" She asked cheerfully. I awkwardly shoved my hands into my pockets, looking around. I wasn't sure what the protocol was in a place like this. I had never been in one before. I had never.. felt the need.
"Um.. I.. I'm.. looking for.. a gift." I finally said, going over to the counter.
"Oh, lovely. What kind of gift? Who is it for?" I felt my cheeks burn, trying to contain my smile.
"My girlfriend. I'm.. I'm going away for a while and.. well, I want to give her something, to have while I'm gone."
"Well, that's very sweet. What were you thinking?" I bit down on my lip, looking through the glass cases. I had never seen her wear rings, and she already had my guitar pick necklace.
"Maybe.. a bracelet." I decided. She nodded, guiding me further down.
"Okay, so does she prefer silver or gold?"
"I think.. silver would be nice." I said, figuring that it could match the necklace I gave her.
"Okay. Here are our silver bracelets. Were you thinking diamonds?"
"Um.." I stuttered, scanning through them, until my eyes finally stopped on a plain silver bracelet with a small blank plate and a singular diamond at the end.
"Can I see that one?" I asked, pointing it out. She nodded, going into the case.
"Now these are nice because you can have them engraved."
"Okay.. y-yeah. I'll take that one."
"Great. And what a lot of couples also do is they get two, especially if they're long distance, so they can have matching ones." I loved the idea of us having something together like that.
"Then I'll take two."
She reached under the counter, pulling out a piece of paper, sliding it over to me.
"Okay, now we'll just need you to write out what you want engraved here and then I can get that started for you." I thought about it for a moment before finally writing something down, sliding it back over to her. She read it with a smile, and then typed it in.
"Can you.. just put that on her's though? I'd.. rather come back and have her pick out what she wants on mine." She nodded, wrapping mine up in a separate bag and sliding it over to me.
"No problem. It'll be done in just a moment."
I walked around the store as she brought Jaime's bracelet into the back, slowly scanning through the different selections of necklaces, watches, earrings, until I finally got to the ring section, feeling my heart beat faster.
Maybe one day I'd get to come back and look through those.
I didn't have to wait long before she came back out, and wrapped up the bracelet, handing me the bag.
"And here you are!" She said cheerfully. "I hope she loves it. Can't wait to see you again."
"Thank you so much. Hopefully soon." I laughed, taking the bag and heading back down the sidewalk to pickup our dinner, and quickly head home, feeling like I had given them more than enough time alone together.
As I pulled up the driveway, I could see that the light in her bedroom was still off, which meant she was still down by the river with him. I placed our food and gift bags down on her front steps and hastily made my way down the dirt path. The closer I got, the louder the roaring of the crashing water became, until soon enough I heard voices.
Her voice.
"Josh, I just think that.. maybe some people are just.. meant to be friends, and-"
"And I don't think we're one of them." Josh said. My stomach dropped. I should have known he would just use this as an excuse to try and win her back. Ever since the show he's been acting different. I should have known he couldn't just accept the fact that we were happy together.
"Look.. maybe you need time. We were each other's first everything, and I can understand being unsure of something like this so soon but.. I have always been sure about you. I have never picked anyone over you and I never would." He reached over for her, gently caressing her face. I felt like I was going to be sick, my feet suddenly forgetting how to move. I was frozen in place, praying that nothing else happened. I wanted to scream but nothing came out.
I knew he was talking about me. This wasn't fair. I couldn't help that I was scared back then. She was all I wanted but.. I was also terrified of the idea of ruining anything with her. I just.. wasn't ready. And by the looks of it, I was right. Things never work out with the first person you're with. You have to learn to grow, that way by the time you find your person, your actual person, you can love them fully, the way they deserve to be loved, and now the time was finally right for us, and I was ready to give her everything.
"You have no idea how badly I want to kiss you again, but.. I won't. Not unless you ask me to." He said, moving closer to her. I felt like I was going to explode, wanting nothing more than to rip him off of her, but.. another part of me needed to see how this played out. If she still loved him.. I needed to know.
But she really didn't seem to mind.
Then finally, she moved away, grabbing her bag and tossing it over her shoulder, but I couldn't hear her over the crashing of the water. And then her face dropped when she turned to face me.
"Jake, I-"
"Sorry, didn't know I'd be interrupting anything."
"N-no, you're not, I was just-"
"Just in the middle of something, clearly." I sighed. "Well, don't let me stop you."
"Jake, no, I was-"
"She was going to find you." Josh snapped, glaring back at me. "Don't worry. Nothing happened. I don't do that." It was taking everything in me not to snap, but I didn't want her to see me like that. That's all she needed, was to see how jealous I really was, after trying so hard to convince her I wasn't. It was bad enough I had to live with knowing that they've slept together, making the idea of them hanging out together alone that much more excruciating, but then not knowing how she felt about him, all the while.. still not wanting to be that way with me.
This was going to drive me insane.
I took a deep breath, finally reaching my arm out for her. She didn't hesitate to run over to me, positioning herself underneath it, holding me close as I grabbed her bag from her, tossing it over my shoulder.
"Come on." I said simply. "I got us dinner." She held onto me tightly as we made our way through the woods, but not before I felt her turn around, peeking back at him.
The walk back was silent, her grip on me getting tighter as he leaned her head against my arm. I let myself calm down before I said anything, not wanting to ruin the night with an outburst that would potentially drive her right back to him.
Now I couldn't help but wonder what else he had said to her before I showed up.
When we got back to the house, I saw her peek around me, looking at her front steps.
"Jake.." She sighed. "W-what's that?" I bit down on my lip, peeking down at her.
"What's what?" I asked, smirking down at her. She flashed me a wide grin as she hid her face in my arm. I leaned down, gently kissing the top of her head.
"Let's go eat."